


Unsolved

by ChickenXD



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Camping, Cult Ending (Dream Daddy), Ghosts, Hallucinations, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kidnapping, M/M, Partial Mind Control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-07 17:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11628699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChickenXD/pseuds/ChickenXD
Summary: Robert takes dad to go hunting for Dover Ghost, after failing to see him last time. They end up camping with Joseph in the forest.





	1. Chapter 1

“Okay, Amanda, what now?”

“Hold up,” she replies while reading the recipe we printed out. She goes over every item in the ingredient list, then looks at the stuff we prepared on the counter. She then puts down the recipe, and opens the wrapping on a stick of butter, dropping it into my mixing bowl. I start the mixer, and she goes on to grab the sugar –

“Wait, no, no, we add it in a bit,” I stop her, “You need to cream the butter first.”

“Geez, dad, what does that even mean?”

“It’s like making buttercream! You need to whip it first before you spread butter on cake.”

I point at the bowl – now the butter has spread all over the bowl, and was becoming a bit lighter. 

“See? Even the color’s different. Now you can add that sugar.”

Amanda just shakes her head, but she’s laughing. 

“I don’t see any difference, but sure.”

“You bake and you learn, Amanda,” I said solemnly, “That’s how your dad got his sick baking skills, and that’s how it will be passed on to–”

She nudges me on the arm,“Come on, dad. It’s just for a senior prank. It doesn’t have to be perfect.”

“What’s the prank element then?”

She giggles as she cracks some eggs into the batter, “You’ll see.”

We let it mix for a while, then she adds in flour and a bit of chocolate powder. I walk over to the oven to make sure it’s all nice and hot – yep, ready to go. 

“Hey, dad, does this look right?”

“Hmmm… a little too thick? I’d add milk.”

She takes out milk from the fridge and pour a little bit into the batter. After she’s satisfied with the consistency she pours the batter into the cupcake pan–

“Okay! Phase one complete!” She puts it in the oven and sets the timer on her phone. 

“I don’t think it’s a good prank, but that’s a damn good cupcake for sure.”

“Oh, dad,” she laughs as she heads over to the fridge – and takes out a big jar of mayo. 

I feel tears well up in my eyes and my heart swells with pride – truly, I have raised my daughter right. We high five. 

“That’s genius, Panda!”

“Yeah!!”

She places the jar on the counter and winks at me. 

“Should I add garlic into it to make it extra nasty?”

“Everyone’s gonna hate you at the end of this!”

“Doesn’t matter, I’m getting out of here, losers!”

We’re partners in crime now. 

 

Ten minutes into baking, we hear someone knock at the door. Who could it be this late at night?

I walk over to the door and open it. 

“Oh hey, Robert.”

“Hey,” he greets – oh, he brought his car along too. “You busy?”

“We’re baking…”

“Hi!” Amanda waves at Robert from behind me, “You guys go ahead and go out!”

“But Panda, I wanna do the mayo frosting–”

“I’ll wait for you, pops! Come on!” She pushes me out the door, “Don’t keep using me as an excuse for your social anxiety! Have fun!”

And she closes the door. I hear it click. 

I can’t believe she kicked me out just like that…

“Come on,” Robert said, hopping into his car. Well, it’s not like I have any better choice now…

 

Robert pulls up at the high cliff that overlooks the city – we were just here last month, when I got my hand cut pretty badly. 

“We’re gonna find the Dover Ghost for real this time, man.”

“What?”

I look over to Robert and see that he’s dead serious, though. 

“Come on! Where’s your sense of adventure?” 

He gets out of the car, so I follow him. He walks over to the back of the car, and see that he does have some supplies stored at the back – a few big flashlights in a plastic bag, a shovel, what I think is a sleeping bag and tent, although I’m not sure why we need it, and oh, god, is that a machete–

“Didn’t we agree on illegal dumping?”

“You know that’s bullshit.” He lugs the tent-sleeping bag package and the shovel, and gestures me to take the redt of the things. I take the machete and one of the flashlights–

“Nonono, take more. Gotta have backup.”

I take two more in my hands… Robert just sighs at me. 

“You know what, take the whole bag. Let’s go.” He heads into the woods, “You lead the way.”

“But… but I’ve never been here!”

He just keeps walking, and doesn’t even bother looking back at me. Is he serious right now?

“Robert! Stop trying to get killed at every chance!”

“Are you coming along or not?”

Oh man. I quickly take out my phone. 

_ “Hey panda, if we don’t come back by the morning please call a park ranger.” _

“Come on!”

“I wouldn’t be doing this if I don’t love you, just saying!”

I turn on my flashlight and go in. 

  
  


Damn, the forest is thick with trees. Even with the flashlight, visibility is pretty bad. Robert follows behind me, looking around cautiously – the only way I know that he’s still there is by the rustle of the leaves when he walks, though. 

“Wait, hold up.”

I almost jump – did Robert see something already? I shine the flashlight on him. 

“I got this phone app that’ll tell us of there are ghosts around.” He takes out his phone from his pocket, and starts to pan around with it. 

“Robert, you know that’s bullshit, right?”

“Worth a try,” he said, “Nothing here, let’s go.”

We continue walking. Occasionally I have to hack off some branches so my flashlight can shine through. Robert scans our environment with his ghost detector phone. 

“By the way, Robert, do you remember the way back?”

“No.”

Awesome. 

“We’ll just wait till sunrise. Why do you think I brought a tent along?”

“You didn’t tell me this is going to be a camping trip!”

“Come on, live a little,” he grunted, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Oh, boy, I can think of at least fifty ways this can go wrong right now. 

“Bears? Snakes? Deers trying to eat the tent?”

“I’ve got a knife.”

That’s not enough!! 

Suddenly I hear loud beeps coming from Robert’s direction. 

“Oh, there the ghost is.”

Thanks for forcing me to go out, Amanda. Now I’m really gonna die. 

Robert points left, at a darker part of the forest that doesn’t even have a path. 

“Should be around there.”

“Robert, let’s just go back.”

“Dude, you walked this far,” Robert said, grabbing my arm, “If we’re going to die, we’ll die together.”

“I didn’t sign up for this…”

  
  


We keep walking and walking. Feels like the forest just keeps getting darker and darker…

I’m getting really nervous, because I can barely see anything, even with the flashlight – what if a bear jumps at us and tries to eat us? But Robert just calmly walks behind me.

“You better be right.”

“I mean, if we keep walking, we’ll end up somewhere.”

Convincing…

I see a faint light between the trees in the distance, and stop walking immediately. The fuck is that? The light seems to be… stationary, but still… what’s that? In the middle of the forest like this? Maybe a concentration of fireflies? Or maybe Robert’s right all along, about the ghosts? 

Robert continues walking until he literally bump into me, and I screamed as we both fell down – I feel the branches break under the weight of our bodies, luckily none pierced into me. 

“Fuck!”

“You okay?”

Robert got up from above me and grabbed my arm to help me up. I brush the leaves and dirt off my shirt and look at the light again. Still there...

I slowly point at that light. He squints as he looks at it, then looks back on his phone. 

“Hmm, it says the ghost disappeared,” he said casually, “Let’s go check out that light.”

“No! We should leave!” I tell him, “Maybe that’s where the Dover Ghost lives!”

He considers this for a few seconds – man, how is he not freaked out? Any normal person would be scared at this point – 

“Come on, won’t hurt to check it out. Someone could’ve forgotten to put out their bonfire.”

Okay, that’s a fair and important point. But I still don’t wanna do it.

Too late. Robert’s grabbing my arm and dragging me to go with him. 

“I wanna go home! Help me Amanda! I don’t wanna die!”

“Quiet! You’re drawing attention from the fucking bears!”

  
  


As we keep walking closer and closer, I can hear some voices. It sounds… like people laughing. And a few seconds later it sounds like people chanting something. And then back to laughter.

“Robert,” I call to him, “Robert, please. I’m so fucking scared.”

“It’s gonna be okay,” he said again, “I’ve got a knife.”

“What if it’s really the Dover Ghost?”

“Then I guess we’ll die.”

  
  


We keep walking, and eventually, we reach the light – 

It is as Robert had thought, a bonfire.

What we totally didn’t expect was Joseph and his three children sitting around it.

“Oh, hello, you two!” he greeted as he saw us coming out of the woods. “Taking a walk in the forest?”

His three identical looking children turn to look at us with their creepy blank stares… I smile nervously and wave. 

“You should join us! We’re going to roast marshmallows in a bit,” Joseph invited, “Unless you have other plans, of course.”

Robert looks around the clearing we’re in, and then turns to Joseph. 

“Are you guys camping too?”

“Oh, no. I just thought it’s good weather to bring the kids out to experience nature, make some s’mores, you know.” He scoots over to sit closer to Chris – “But you guys should totally join us! The more the merrier, right?”

Well, at least it’s not a real ghost… although it does feel strange to see Joseph out here in the woods at night. And his three kids are still staring at us like they don’t want us… it’s kind of ominous…

Robert drops his bag on the ground and sits down next to Christine, though, so I guess it’s… okay? I sit down next to him. At least Joseph seems happy to have us. 

“Okay! Let’s continue singing!” he said to the kids, “What should we sing next?”

No response from the three kids. Robert takes out a flask from his pocket, and takes a swig of… whatever it is. 

“Let’s sing Amazing Grace!” He turns to me with a smile – oh fuck, I don’t remember this song at all. 

“Amazing grace… how sweet the sound…”

These kids surprisingly know the song! Maybe because Joseph sings it to them everyday. I just try my best to lip sync it, while Robert flat out doesn’t care. 

Ah. This must be what I thought was chanting when we were walking here. 

“I once was lost… but now, I’m found… was blind, but now I see…”

All of us (except Robert) clap our hands as we finish singing. 

“Dad,” Chris cuts in, “I’m hungry.”

“Okay! Time for s’mores!”

“You need help setting up, Joseph?”

“Sure! It’d be great if you can break up the chocolate and crackers?”

Joseph hands me packages of graham crackers and chocolate on a plate – I turn to Robert, trying to give him one, but he’s just sitting there whittling a piece of wood. Christine seems very interested in what he’s doing, though. 

“What are you making, Mr. Small?”

“I don’t know yet,” he replies without looking up at her, “Why don’t you decide.”

“Crystal pony!”

“A horse. Sure.”

It’s cute to see Robert interact with a child, though. 

“Christine, do you still want to roast marshmallows?”

“Yay!”

Joseph hands each of his children a metal stick with three marshmallows skewered in it. 

“Let me make one for Mr. Small too!”

“Hey, hey…” Robert’s becoming her favorite, huh? I definitely feel a little underappreciated. “Won’t you make one for me? I’m doing all the chocolate too.”

She stares at me for a while, the nods and turns to Joseph. 

“I’ll do another one!”

Aww, what a good child… I forgive her for her creepiness. The other two aren’t off the hook, though. 

 

Soon enough they’re all roasting their marshmallows. Joseph seems to pay pretty good attention to how much they’re browning, and then placing them on a plate once the outside has browned. His kids just let the marshmallows turn into charcoal before taking them off. 

“You know what would make this more fun?” Chris said at some point, looking clearly bored.

“Singing more worship songs?” 

He sighs, “Ghost stories.”

“Come on, Chris,” Joseph sighs, “I told you over and over that God wouldn’t want us to believe in idols, and that includes ghosts. Ghosts aren’t real.”

“But dad…”

He turns to Robert, who’s still whittling.

“Mr. Small, do you have any ghost stories?”

“Huh?”

“Come on, Chris, let’s drop it.”

“I do have a story,” Robert said, “Don’t know if it’s too scary for you kids.”

The three kids seem very excited at the prospect of being told a ghost story – while Joseph could only sigh. At this point I know Robert’s probably just pulling something out of his ass, though.

“Ghost story time!” “Yayy!”

“Okay, okay,” Robert sighs, “You guys ever heard of the Dover Ghost?”

They all shake their head. Ah, he just told this story on the ghost tour last week.

“This was back from when I just moved into Maple Bay,” Robert begins, “I heard some rumors about strange lights and sounds coming from the cemetery.”

The three kids listen attentively.

“So you know, I like hunting cryptids and such, I thought this might be one. I went to camp there for three nights, waiting for this thing to come out,” he continues, “And those three nights were fine. No noises, or anybody snooping around at night. So on the third night, before I went back to my tent, I tried checking out this mausoleum, like, in the corner of the cemetery.” 

He puts down the wood and knife he was whittling. The tension is rising, and the kids are drawn to it.

“I was just in there, you know, walking around, checking out the names on the wall,” he said, “And then suddenly the air went cold. Like freezing. I look out and suddenly, behind me, there’s this… creature.”

“What does it look like?” 

“It’s like… a human with really long arms,” Robert describes, “And it’s all shadowy and black. I don’t think it even has a face, but it has shiny red eyes. It doesn’t have feet, it just kind of drags on the ground and leaves black slime along the trail.”

“And then?” “And then?”

“I was standing there thinking, well, this is it, this is how I die,” Robert continues, “There was no way out. It just kind of fills up the room, so there’s no way to escape.

“And then guess what, your dad showed up.”

The kids all turned to look at Joseph, who seemed genuinely surprised. But aww, man, last time it was me who showed up.

“And your dad started shouting prayers and Bible passages, and swinging the cross at the Dover ghost,” Robert explained, “And it slowly just… melts away. The room was all dark, and suddenly it’s gone. Just your dad and me.”

“Wow!” “That’s so cool, dad!”

Robert extends a fist out to Joseph, and Joseph bumps it with his own fist. The kids seem to have a newfound respect for Joseph. 

“Owe you one, man.”

“May God always be with you, Robert.”

Robert picks his whittling items back up and continues. 

“Okay, we should eat now,” Joseph said, taking the plate of crackers and chocolate I was breaking up. The kids hand him their skewers with their burnt marshmallows – he makes a few s’mores, and passes it around for everyone. The kids all grab the s’mores with Joseph’s marshmallows – the ones that weren’t burnt – and soon they’re all eating quietly. 

I decide to take one for the dads, and eat a burnt one, and I see Robert and Joseph do the same. Dad solidarity in trying to compensate for your kids’ mistakes, huh...

  
  


“Okay, we’re going to head back now.”

“Cool,” Robert said, and turns to Christine to give her what he was whittling. “Do you wanna keep this or should I finish it first?”

“You can take your time, Mr. Small!”

Robert smiles and nods to himself. 

“You guys wanna come with us?” Joseph asked as he packed all his supplies, “Where did you guys park?”

“We’re good. We were going to camp here anyway.”

I turn to Robert to deny it, but from our conversation earlier, seems like he’s not going to have it. I’m also not going to argue over this in front of the kids… so I guess I’m in this till morning, then…

“Guess I’ll leave that fire on for you guys, then,” Joseph said as he got up, “I’ll leave the water here.’

“Thanks, Joseph!”

“No problem!” he said with a smile, “It was fun! We should all do this again sometime, yeah?”

“Sure!” 

We wave at Joseph and his kids before they leave, disappearing into the dark woods. Did they go the way we came from? I’m not sure.

 

It’s quiet now, now that it’s just the two of us. Joseph left us a few s’mores to eat, so I grab another one… ah, they’re burnt.

“You want another?”

Robert shakes his head. He’s still whittling Christine’s horse, it seems…

“Oh geez, you’ve got crumbs all over your face,” I said, brushing them off his beard. He scratches the remaining off his chin.

“What time is it?”

I check my phone, “Nine forty-five.”

“Let’s drink,” he said. “I brought some drinks in the tent bag.”

“Don’t you think we should set up the tent before we get drunk?”

“...maybe.”

I get up to pick up the bag, and open it up. I lay it on the ground – damn, it’s really wrinkly. How old is this thing?

Robert got up and walked over to me. 

“What a mess.” 

He knelt down and started unfolding the tent, getting the fabric out from among the metal poles. He seems to be trying to figure out the corners now–

“...you do know how to set this up, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve done it before.”

Suddenly I hear what sounds like… a loud rustle. 

Robert too pauses from unpacking the tent, and looks around warily.

“You hear that too?”

He nods. 

Oh no. Is it a bear or some other animal, attracted to the fire? 

It seems to be coming from… that way, although I’m not sure, since I can barely see anything. I take out my flashlight and point it at where I think the sound is coming from. I can’t see anything, though, just trees…

We hear the rustle again – seems like it stopped for a few seconds, and now whatever it is has started moving again. Where is it coming from? I’m not so sure.

Robert picks up his shovel and starts walking towards the sound. I start to follow him–

“No,” he stops me, “Give me that flashlight.”

“But what if you…”

“Stay here. You call the park ranger if I don’t come back.”

I give it to him very reluctantly. What happened to dying together? 

He starts walking towards the woods. I take out the other flashlight and light it – the bonfire is still bright, but just in case. I pick up the machete as well, just in case anything comes at me – 

I wait nervously. I still hear rustles around me, but I’m not too sure whether that’s the animal or Robert walking around. Fuck I’m scared.

I wait for a few minutes. I still hear the rustles coming from the direction Robert went in, but they don’t go away or become softer, it’s still loud. Is he lost?

“Robert!” I shouted, “You hear me?”

No reply. Has he walked so far away he can’t hear me? Or is he trying to be silent on purpose?

I’m getting nervous that I should try to find him, so I can help him if anything comes up, but at the same time he told me not to, and I can’t really leave the fire unattended–

I start to walk around the clearing, shining my flashlight into the woods to try to see if I can still see him – but again, trees block my line of sight. I still hear the rustles–

And suddenly everything fell silent. 

It felt abrupt, as if the thing lurking around suddenly stopped and remained stationary, as opposed to walking away and leaving us alone. Is it still around here? 

“Hey, you want something to eat?” I try to bargain, “I don’t exactly have anything natural, but I’ve got chocolate, if you’d like that?”

Nothing. Well, of course an animal wouldn’t know what chocolate is–

 

Suddenly something hits my head hard from the back. 

I fall on the ground and tried to get back up quickly, still holding my machete – 

I didn’t get a chance to see it as it lands a second blow on my chest, and I fall down. 

Everything turns dark.

  
  
  
  


“Let him go.”

Joseph just smiles as he continues to circle around Robert, who’s sitting in a chair, hands tied behind his back.

“But then that’s no fun,” Joseph remarks, “There’s no stakes for you.”

“He didn’t fucking do anything, asshole!”

Robert stomps his foot on the floor angrily, but this doesn’t faze Joseph. He just smiles and gently lifts Robert’s chin, forcing him to look at him.

“Come on,” Robert pleads, “He has a daughter.”

“You’re cute when you ask for something nicely, you know,” Joseph said with a smile, “Do that more.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Ugh. How long have I been out?

My head hurts. I remember that something or someone struck me from behind…

I don’t know if I’m injured anywhere else. What about Robert? Wait, where am I even?

I open my eyes, and I see Amanda sitting next to me, looking at me worriedly. 

“Dad! Are you okay?”

“Uhh…” I sat up. I’m in my room, it seems. I look down and check myself for any injuries, and cuts – but seems like there’s none, it’s just my head that’s hurting.

“What happened?”

“You told me to call the park ranger if you don’t come back by the morning, so I did!” she replied, “They found you unconscious in the woods!”

“I… I’m not too sure what happened,” I replied, massaging my temples, “I think we were attacked by… a bear or something? Something struck me hard from the back…”

Amanda just sighs as she leans over to hug me. 

“Come on, dad, it’s okay. As long as you’re home safely.”

“Aww…”

I hug her back and hold her tighter. I feel safe, back in the confines of my house, in my daughter’s arms…

“I won’t force you to go out next time, dad. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, Panda.”

She smiles as she gets up to kiss my cheek.

“You must be hungry,” she said as she wriggles herself free from my hug, “I’ll make you some eggo.”

“What about school?”

She glances at the clock, “I’ve got time.”

“So you finished frosting all the cupcakes?”

“Huh?” She seemed a little confused at my question…

“The cupcakes, from last night before I left,” I explain, “You finished making them?”

She nods happily, “Yeah! Do you want one?”

Wait, isn’t she going to bring them to school, for her senior prank? And she’s going to use garlic mayo as her frosting?

I guess I can give it a try. It’s her first real attempt at baking by herself under my supervision, after all, and it’s just one less person getting pranked.

  
  


I slowly open the curtains and look out. I’m back at the cul-de-sac, alright, and everything seems normal. It’s pretty good, sunny weather. Looks like a pretty good day to go out for a jog…

“Here you go, dad!”

Amanda comes back into the room and hands me a chocolate cupcake with white frosting, piped into the shape of something like a rose. She must’ve found my collection of piping tips.

“They come out really nicely!” I praised her, “Also, good job on the frosting. Even I can’t get them to be that neat.” 

“Thanks, dad! Got those sick baking skills from you!”

I take a bite of the cupcake–

The frosting’s… sweet. 

It’s not mayo. Or garlic mayo. Just… plain old buttercream?

“I left the rest in the fridge, so you can just grab them later if you’re hungry, okay?” She waves at me as she walks out of my room, “Okay, I’m off to school! Just stay in bed and chill, okay?”

“See you later, Panda!”

 

I hear the door click as Amanda walks out of the front door, and I watch as she walks down the street, heading off to school.

Once she’s out of my line of sight, I get out of bed.

Something’s off. I can just… feel it. 

The buttercream frosting instead of mayo, and forgetting the senior prank with the cupcakes…

 

But right now I’m definitely more worried about Robert. Is he okay? When the park rangers found me this morning, did they find him too?

A short walk to his house to check up on him shouldn’t hurt. I feel fine anyways, except my head still hurts a little, but I’ll just make sure he’s there–

I head to the door and open it – but it’s locked.

...it’s locked? Usually even if it’s locked, it’s only locked from the outside, never from the inside. I don’t think the door even allows it to be locked from the inside. 

I grab the knob and turn it harder, but the door wouldn’t budge. What, is the door broken? But Amanda got out just fine like, five minutes ago – maybe something’s stuck inside? 

I turn to look for my toolbox, and got out my trusty screwdriver. I start taking off the screws around the knobs, exposing the inner mechanism–

“Dad?”

My heart skips a beat as I hear Amanda behind me, and I quickly turn around – and there she is, standing behind me, walking out of her room with her backpack.

“Daaad,” she whines, “I told you to just chill. If the door’s broken I’ll just go from the back door for now, and we can call someone to fix it–”

“Amanda, you just… left for school.”

“No,” she replies immediately, “I’m just about to leave.”

“But I just saw you walk to school…”

“Oh, come on, dad,” she laughs, “Are you okay? You’re probably still confused from–”

No, I’m sure. I just saw her walk down the street, that way, to her school–

“Anyway, I’m leaving now,” she said as she walks past me, pushes the door open , and walks out. I try to walk out with her, but she’s already closed the door behind her. I try to push the door open like she did, and it… wouldn’t budge, again. I push harder, nothing – I kick the door, nothing – I crash my body to it, nothing–

“Dad?”

I watch as Amanda walks out of her room, and slings her backpack onto her back casually. She seems surprised to see me standing by the door, pushing it as hard as I can with my body–

“You good, dad? Is the door broken?”

And I’m surprised, too, because, what the fuck?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember: yall asked for it,

Amanda’s finally off to school. 

I had to come back to my room, and finally the… many Amandas stop appearing. So I’m back in bed, eating another chocolate buttercream cupcake… 

It tastes good, but something about this whole situation kind of ruins the taste for me.

I want to go back out. Maybe not try to fix the door this time, but just take a look around the house. 

Maybe this is some kind of… dream world. That’s why what happens here is disjointed with reality. Like the case with this fucking cupcake. Maybe I’ll find some other clues around the house. But what if more Amandas appear?

Also… if this is a dream world… where am I, in reality? Still in the forest?

 

I open the door carefully and peek out. Okay, there’s nobody around.

I put one foot outside, and look around cautiously.

Nothing.

I put my other foot outside, and close the door as softly as possible. 

Still nothing.

I open the door to Amanda’s room – and it’s empty inside. Her camera and laptop are on her table, some books scattered on the floor, the closet door’s open and some clothes are messily strewn around – looks about right. 

“Manda Panda?”

No answer. 

 

I walk slowly to the kitchen and find that it’s clean. Everything’s in place – no pans or pots on the stove, no leftover food on the counter, no dishes in the sink. 

Seems a little too clean, but… okay, I guess. 

I open the fridge, and as Amanda promised, there those cupcakes are. It’s also stocked with some other stuff…

...shit, everything looks so normal that I’m second guessing myself. Maybe Amanda just decided that she doesn’t want to make mayo cupcakes anymore and have a better senior prank planned?

No, no. Still. Amanda appearing over and over again, and being able to open the door when I clearly can’t…

I look back at the front door. I’ve exposed the mechanism with my screwdriver earlier – heck, the toolbox is still there–

I feel tempted to try to leave again, but another part of me can’t help but worry that “Amanda” will catch me and try to put me in my room again. Now that I’ve made it to the kitchen, maybe I should… just stay here. In the house. 

I take a bag of chips from the pantry and head over to the sofa. I turn on the TV–

Static. Strange, I’ve never had issues with the antenna in this new house. I try switching a few channels, and they’re all static. 

Maybe they’re just having issues at the station. I turn the TV off and open my bag of chips to eat.

 

Maybe if I fall asleep in a dream, I’ll wake back up in the real world. 

Or maybe I’ll just get absorbed into deeper dreams. Some Inception level bullshit. 

Right, don’t they have something in that movie to tell them whether or not they’re in a dream? Because physics don’t work as well in dreams or something? I should find a spinner or something and try it.

 

Suddenly Amanda comes out of her room, carrying her backpack.

“Hey dad,” she greets me, “It’s unlike you to be awake this early.”

Nothing about me going out last night? 

“Dunno. Woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep, so I decided to watch TV.”

She nods with a smile.

“I mean, you should probably go back to sleep for a little longer.”

“Maybe later, yeah,” I said as I got up. “Let me fix you breakfast.”

“It’s fine! I’ll just have cereal or something.”

I still follow her to the kitchen. She pours some cereal into a mug, and then some cold milk, and just drank them instead of using a spoon.

“Savage.”

“You mean time efficient, dad?”

We both laugh.

 

Maybe this is reality. Nothing wrong about that. 

Amanda and I really are at home together, and she is actually going to school. And later in the afternoon she’ll come back and we can maybe go to the mall or something. 

 

She finishes drinking the cereal and quickly headed for the door. 

“Okay, see you dad!”

I wave at her as she pushes the door open and walks out. 

The doorknob is still broken. 

 

But earlier. How Amanda just keeps reappearing from her room and leaves for school. 

That… can’t be real either, right?

Damn, if only there’s actually a way to find out–

–my eyes wander to my knife block. 

 

I pick up the meat knife and look around. I really am alone, right?

Okay, this may be a little extreme, but I guess I can always call 911. Hmm… 

I can try just hurting myself and see if I feel anything. I run my finger across the knife, and it cuts my finger… as it should. Some blood drips from my finger, so I put my finger in my mouth–

“Dad?”

I turn around quickly, and…

Amanda’s there again. She looks at me, confused and at the same time horrified. 

“Dad, did you hurt yourself?”

 

I instinctively point the knife at her. 

Her eyes grow wide and she pales – she seems even more scared now. I take a step back, still pointing at her. 

This is the sixth time now or something. 

“You’re not my daughter,” I said, “Who are you?”

“Dad, what do you mean?” she asked with a nervous smile, “I’m Amanda!”

She stares at me nervously for a while, and I stand frozen. 

I can’t… kill my own child. 

I know, at the same time, at she isn’t. 

But if I’m willing to point the knife at her, doesn’t that mean I’d point it at the real Amanda too? And kill her? 

 

She falls to her knees and starts crying. 

“Dad!” she screams, “Dad, what’s gotten into you?”

Why isn’t she running away? Or calling 911?

“Dad,” she pleads, “Dad, calm down. Please!”

 

It feels like my body’s frozen. Like even if I tried to move, I wouldn’t be able too. 

Why? Is it because Amanda is crying? Because I’m trying to kill her? Because I think this is all a dream? 

And what if it isn’t? 

She would actually die. And it would be my fault. I would be killing my daughter. 

But I have to escape the dream. I have to save myself. 

And Robert. Robert needs me. 

But if this is all real–

 

I feel like I can’t think anymore.

“Dad, please,” she cries, “Put the knife down, okay? Please, dad…”

I look at her. She’s buried her face in her hands, her shoulders are shaking, I can hear her sobbing. 

It hurts. It hurts to see her like this. 

I don’t want to do this. Even if it’s a dream, I don’t want to kill her. 

“Please, dad… I don’t know what you’re upset about, but–”

 

I point the knife at myself and stab my chest. 

  
  
  


I wake up with a start, and with a sharp pain in my chest. 

The room I wake up in is dark and the floor beneath my body is cold. I don’t think anyone is around. Where is this? 

I… I stabbed myself. It’s a dream. 

My hand feels my chest – it feels warm. I look at my hand and see my own blood.

Great. But at least I’m not dead yet, I guess. 

I slowly turn around to get up – oh fuck, it hurts. My body instinctively curls up and I let out a moan. 

Fuck. Oh fuck fuck fuck. Now the blood is dripping straight on the floor and my chest still hurts like hell. I probably broke a few ribs. 

Although if I stabbed myself in… what’s supposed to be a dream, how does it carry here?

Or maybe I’m still in a dream. I’m not too sure what this place is, but I do have a feeling I need to get out of here. I don’t wanna try to kill myself a second time, though. 

_ “awake…” _

I turn around to the creepy voice, and I can  _ just  _ barely make out Joseph’s twins. 

“Christian? Christine?” I ask between my hisses of agony – “What are you doing here?”

_ “you’re awake…” _

Shit, they sound different. Like their voices are deeper. I know they usually look plenty creepy already, but this just amps it up. 

“Hey, come on, guys,” I force a smile, although I know I’m on the floor with my ass in the air and probably look silly – “Let’s not pretend to be scary, guys…”

And then I notice that the boy’s hair was colored red with blood, some of them dripping down his forehead and down to his face. 

“Are… are you hurt?”

_ “robert.” _

“What?”

_ “hit me with a shovel.” _

I feel like I’m in a horror movie. And I’m the dumb protagonist who’s first to die. 

The two children stare at me, writhing in pain on the floor. How the fuck is that boy not hurting with that kind of wound in his head?

Wait… wait, he said, Robert hit him with a shovel? He did bring a shovel along when he left me in the forest. But why would he? Robert wouldn’t even fight Ernest back then, said he would never hit a kid…

They walk closer to me, and I notice that their eyes are black. Like pitch black, without any whites. 

They’re creepy enough as usual, but now this just looks like something out of a horror movie. What the fuck. 

I grit my teeth as I force myself to get up from the floor, clutching my chest as if it’ll help with the bleeding. Fuck, it’s getting difficult to breathe. I rest against the walls and drag myself away. 

_ “where are you going?” _

“Uh… out?”

_ “you can’t leave.” _

I just continue walking away while looking back to watch them watch me walk away. 

“Well, catch me then.”

They both start walking towards me, so I just keep walking as fast as my dad legs would take me. I would be able to go faster (and also not scrape my arm) if only I’m not leaning against the wall, but blood is draining fast from my body and I need to last as long as possible. 

I hear their footsteps get faster. Oh man, I am so fucked. 

  
  
  


The floor under my body feels like it’s slightly vibrating – or maybe it’s my body, shaking from the fear and pain. 

How long has this gone on? 

Staying in the darkness for this long messes up your mind. 

No sense of time passing by. 

My eyes should’ve adjusted to the darkness by now. Sometimes I feel like I could make out things, shadows – and then I would blink and everything disappears – just sees little white stars, like static. 

Maybe because I’m losing so much blood so quickly. 

My mind blurs in and out of focus. I wonder if I’ve collapsed and blacked out before getting up and continuing. But this place is too dark and my mind is way too tired to tell. 

 

I lost the twins at some point, but this place is too fucking dark I can’t tell where I’m going. It could be that they’re just hiding, waiting to jump me at the right opportunity. Hell, I could be walking in circles and not know it. 

Not even sure if this is reality or still a dream. Seems pretty bad either way. 

It’s getting hard to breathe. Probably because of the broken ribs – tore my lung a little, blood flood in there so that my alveoli can’t work properly, can’t get enough oxygen. 

...honestly though, I expected to die when I stabbed myself. 

Good thing I didn’t. Would have been a traumatic experience for Amanda. 

 

There’s a big shadow on the wall.

I was going to just pass by it, thinking it’s coming from the walls or something, 

But I can hear someone breathing. Very softly. Like they’re trying to hide.

I slowly let go of the wall and walk to the shadow slowly. 

 

“Robert?”

I cup my hands on his cheek. He’s asleep… unconscious? On a chair?

I shake him gently, and he slowly blinked open his eyes and looked up at me. 

...I suddenly remember those kids and their pitch black eyes that looked like the void, and was quietly grateful that Robert’s eyes at least looked human.

“Where the fuck are we?”

He still seems dazed. Well, wouldn’t blame him. I’m still reeling back myself.

“Can you get up?”

I look around – I see he’s sitting on a wooden chair, his hands tied around his back. 

“Wait, who did this, Robert?”

“It’s…”

He sighs as he turns to look at me, and suddenly his eyes widen in shock.

“What happened to you, bitch?”

“Huh?” 

...oh, he must be talking about the wound.

“Yeah, tripped and fell…”

“Tripped and fell don’t make that much blood!”

“Anyway, I gotta get you out of here first,” I said, “Who caught us? Do you know where they are?”

 

I wonder if Amanda’s okay. 

Is she waiting for me at home? Did she call the park rangers?

...I have to keep going. 

 

“...no idea.”

 

I can make out something in the distance. 

I sure as hell hope I’m not hallucinating. 

From where I stand right now it just looks like a big… black… shape… shadow thing. 

Is it human? I don’t fucking know.

Are those twins human? Was the Amanda I saw human? 

Fuck. 

 

My legs are first to give in as I fall on my knees on the floor. 

I start coughing… vomiting. Feels like something shook my entire body violently, and everything hurts, especially my chest. 

I try to take a breath between my coughs. Can’t. I open my mouth to take a breath – I start coughing harder, so hard my stomach feels like it’s going to pop out. 

I look up. The shadow is still there, unmoving. 

“Who?” I try to say, but it just comes out like a whimper. 

The shadow starts to move. Seems like it’s getting bigger and bigger. Oh, I’m fucked, aren’t I. 

It almost looks like a ghost… or a grim reaper, in this darkness. I try to look up, but I start getting choked up again and I throw up more blood. 

My body feels weak. I try to get up, but not enough oxygen for my brain to signal to my arm. 

The shadow is now right above me. If it’s a person, they’re looking down at me. 

“Oh, my.”

I don’t recognize that voice. 

“I see you woke up from your dream in the worst possible way, huh?” it jeered, “Smart, although probably not the best move in hindsight.”

I summon the last of my strength to get up and try to catch it – my hand grabs a handful of soft cloth. 

“Oh, you poor, pitiful soul,” it went on, “Imagine if your dear daughter saw you like this.”

Fuck this guy. 

“I can still help you. Save your life and get you out of here.”

My body suddenly weakens again, and I collapse on the floor. I try to get back up, but there’s simply… no more strength in me. 

Everything blurs away. 

“Would you like that? Don’t you want to see her again? See her  _ graduate high school, graduate college, maybe get married one day? It’d be nice to walk her down the aisle… watch her have–” _

  
  
  


I watch Amanda walk across the stage, taking her diploma, jumping in joy as she does the “dab” on stage. 

“Good job, Amanda!” I shout to her from among the crowd, and she waves at me. Oh, there I am, being the embarrassing dad again. Once she walks off the stage, I see her high five Robert on her way running to me. 

“I did it dad! I’m outta this hellhole!”

“I’m so fucking proud of you!”

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
